It was ladies night on the final battle round episode of The Voice Season 4.

Three battles were shown in full on the hourlong episode: in two, a man and a woman competed and the women prevailed; the third was female on female and they both got spots on teams after coach Usher used his last steal.

The best news out of all of that is that Sarah Simmons was one of the battle winners. But then again, given how she’s been touted as a potential season champion since her blind audition, how could she lose?

Brandon Roush vs. Shawna P., Team Shakira: Brandon, the 19-year-old Sean Penn lookalike (circa Fast Times at Ridgemont High) who works with autistic kids, had good reason to fear Shawna when he heard they were battling with Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart.” As Brandon himself put it, the 45-year-old Nashville survivor “is a lot like Janis so that freaked me out.”

Truth be told I found the two pretty evenly matched vocally when battle time came, but Brandon scored points with me for his enthusiasm, his red hat and his somewhat goofy dancing (and Shawna lost points for that embroidered caftan; that was lounge wear not battle wear).

Shakira, however, chose experience over eagerness, in her words. Shawna’s perfect pitch and control, not to mention a voice that sounds like it’s been soaked in at least three decades worth of whisky and cigarettes, won the day.

There was no steal for Brandon, which bums me out a little.

Duncan Kamakana vs. Sarah Simmons, Team Adam: Duncan, 24, was one of those singers we barely glimpsed in the blind auditions. As it turned out, he wasn’t meant for glory of his own but to be the vehicle to advance one of the chosen ones, i.e. Sarah, 22.

To be fair, both of them had some issues in rehearsals of Lady Antebellum’s “Wanted You More” (and not just because one of the authors of the song, Hillary Scott, was advising them). Duncan’s and Sarah’s voices together were less than harmonious in their final run-through with coach Adam Levine.

They’d worked it out by battle night, but Duncan’s pleasant, slightly husky instrument was no match for Sarah in all her many colours.

As coach Blake Shelton put it, Sarah has “this real sweet, clear, crystal clear voice and then she can just drift off into falsetto that’s beautiful, then all of a sudden she turns on that rasp thing that happens just when she wants it to and when it matters the most.”

There was no need to make us wait through a commercial break to learn that Levine had chosen Sarah.

Duncan said he was honoured his defeat came “at the hands of who honestly is my pick to win it all this year.”

Cathia vs. Mary Miranda, Team Shakira: One of the questions that arises from this matchup is whether there are enough votes for both these Latina singers should they make it to the live rounds.

The other is whether viewers will remember or care that Cathia tried to throw Mary under the bus if or when she gets that far.

Shakira gave the women one of her own songs, “Antas De Las Seis,” and challenged them to make it their own.

Things got a little testy during final rehearsal when Cathia, 19, complained that Mary, 17, “doesn’t know where to sing” and blamed that for her own pitch problems.

Cathia is a powerhouse vocalist with a flair for the over-dramatic; Mary can belt when she has to, but I preferred the sweetness of Mary’s voice in the battle.

Shakira did too, naming Mary winner for her “signature vibrato” and her charisma.

“You’re just so sweet, you’re like cotton candy,” Shakira said.

Cathia was leaving the stage after tearfully thanking Shakira when Usher pushed his button and stole her.

“I could do really incredible things with you because you have an incredible voice,” he said.

(Anybody else think it was a little funny that after calling out Shakira for being narcissistic and making the women sing one of her own songs, Usher mentioned his own No. 1 Latin record in his argument for choosing Cathia?)

Although we didn’t see the battle, it seemed like a no-brainer that Usher also chose self-described nerd Michelle Chamuel over Chelsea M., who was another blink and you miss her blind auditioner.

Also unseen were Levine picking Amy Whitcomb over Agina Alvarez (if you’re saying “Who?” I’m right there with you) and Shelton choosing Justin Rivers over the Morgan Twins. Had sisters Cara and Rhiann prevailed, duos would have been three for three in the battles, since Midas Whale and the Swon Brothers have already made it to the knockout rounds.

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